PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - The Wright brothers just glided in 1903. They flew in 1908.
Old 24th Jun 2014, 15:31
  #589 (permalink)  
Haraka
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: South East of Penge
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As I have said previously even if people are unhappy with the criteria for the 1903 flights - the Wrights 1905 flights were still way ahead of any others !
They certainly were instrumental in bringing in roll control to add to pitch and yaw (over an, initially at least, unstable platform) vis a vis employing natural stability.
Then, it can be argued, development converged ,with the Wrights seeking more natural stability whilst others sought to employ more direct roll control post 1908 .
By around 1912 the balance of the two approaches seems to have matured, to finally allow a fairly maneuverable aircraft to comfortably be flown "hands off".


Enter the B.E. 2 .
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